


The Experiment

by Ezallamir



Series: Through The Looking Glass [3]
Category: Prey (Video Game 2017), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kinda, Medical Experimentation, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Gets A Hug, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ezallamir/pseuds/Ezallamir
Summary: Aizawa had never been called into the heart of Tokyo before. What he experienced there stuck with him for years.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku
Series: Through The Looking Glass [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820905
Comments: 8
Kudos: 185





	The Experiment

Aizawa had never been called into the heart of Tokyo before. He’d rarely left Naruhata ward, not since signing on to his agency right out of U.A. Days off were spent grocery shopping and drowning in cat dander, not subjecting himself to the idiocy of tourists and crowds. But when the largest police precinct in the capitol sends a meeting request straight to your email, bypassing hero agency protocol, you don’t say no. Well, Aizawa doesn’t say no; someone like Endeavor had no qualms telling the police how little he thought of them. 

Eraserhead’s phone buzzed an alert as his train entered the station. The whole city was on high alert, not that the civilians stumbling about realized. Three days ago, the Hero Commission had put out a message to every hero in the country: threat level orange for Japan as a whole, all heroes be on the lookout for increased villain activity. The soft target areas—tourists spots, school grounds, hospitals—were ranked even higher at red. Which meant every hero coming into the city was tagged via GPS and could be called into action at any time. It was a hassle. 

His phone buzzed again as he slipped into the Hero’s Highway, underground passages connected the train station to nearby major hero agencies and police departments. Every door was biometrically locked and reinforced, but Eraserhead still believed it was an unnecessary security risk, even if it saved him the headache that was walking the streets. His phone might not survive the damn GPS pings the entire time he’s here though.

The door to the precinct requires both Eraserhead's hero license and a scan of his eyes to open. Different heroes can have different biometric locks to make it more difficult to force entry, such as Blood King having to use his DNA to open the lock. Which, to Eraser, is just another database with a dangerous amount of information that could be hacked. 

The detective meets him just inside the underground door. "Pro Hero Eraserhead, thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I am Detective Hayashi." She slid her identification card through the keycard lock to open another reinforced door on the other side of the room. Beyond that was a normal looking elevator. "I'm sorry for the suddenness of my email, but the matter is urgent."

"Trip wasn't too bad; it's not often that I make it over here. Extra security is a pain though." 

Hayashi nodded in agreement as she used a key hanging from her wrist to operate the elevator. "Unfortunately, it seems these measures will be necessary for the foreseeable future." Another slide of her keycard was needed before the doors would open up into the familiar hallways of a police precinct. You work as a hero long enough and most departments started to look the same. 

Eraserhead followed her through the halls and couldn't help but feel like he was being pulled into something much more troublesome than he usually dealt with. "And does that have anything to do with why you need me?"

The detective didn't answer him until they reached another locked door. "No. It is a separate matter entirely. I cannot speak to the reasoning of these increased security measures, only to their necessity." The door opened up into a small conference room: a single-serve coffee machine, a computer set up, and a table that would fit at most five people. He almost thought it looked cozy; throw in a sleeping bag, mini-fridge, and a cat and it would be a close match to his first apartment. Eraser made his way to the coffee machine while Detective Hayashi started up the computer and projector. 

"So what am I here for?" 

“Three days ago there was a car accident: the driver of a commercial truck lost control and plowed into a retaining wall." The wall was illuminated with a picture of a mangled truck, the passenger side caved in and covered with cement dust. "Luckily there were no pedestrian injuries and the driver was still alive when pulled from the wreckage and taken to the closest hospital. Throughout transport, they were unable to give their name or any identification, but were instead ranting nonsense.” 

Coffee obtained, Eraser took a seat. “Concussion injuries can lead to all sorts of fun mental issues. What kinds of nonsense?”

Hayashi paused, unsure on how to answer. Finally, she answered, “It might be better if you heard it yourself.” The detective pulled up an audio file on the screen. “These were logged by the attending medical staff; I’ve compiled the three clearest clips of the bunch.” 

The recording started with banging, slamming sounds, calls for medical support, and the frantic beeping of a heart monitor. A man was screaming over the noises. _“I have to go, they need me, let me go!”_ Someone called for sedatives. _“He needs us! The labs, the labs, I’ve got to clear the labs…”_

The next clip was just as hectic: medical personnel trying to calm the patient down, something crashing to the floor, a voice repeating _“The labs! Clear the labs! Someone’s coming!”_ It ended as suddenly as it started. 

The last clip was quiet, which was eerie considering the sheer volume of the other two clips. _“I used to wish we weren’t alone in the universe,”_ a raspy voice broke the silence. _“The experiment went wrong…”_ The file ended.

“The driver died of their wounds soon after this last recording. Medical staff were unable to identify him or these labs that he spoke of.” 

“You wouldn't call me in if you thought this was just the ravings of a dying man. So you need me to find the labs? Not much to go on.” Aizawa sighed, he hated these types of missions where there was no initial information to go on. Means a lot of leg work for him with very little pay off. He much preferred patrolling for active incidents that he can end.

“Surprisingly no. We’ve found the labs.” The detective clicked open a different file on the computer. Another picture of the truck, but this time of the cargo area. Several holding tanks lined one wall, most broken and empty. One, however, seemed to hold a liquid. "Samples from this canister contain mostly normal water, with traces of some type of biological material." Another click and the picture changed to a long and slender fish with very small fins.

"An eel?"

"An eel. An American Freshwater Eel to be exact."

Aizawa sipped his coffee as he stared at the animal. "So we have a lab, a body, and an eel. I'm not seeing the connection." 

"Eels are common in Japan, but American eels are exceptionally rare in this country. Only a few importers are allowed to bring them into the country and even those are limited in numbers and use. They're quite expensive."

"Why would anyone spend the effort to import these specific eels? Do they taste that much different?"

"They produce a compound that is thought to boost mental quirks."

Aizawa’s eyebrows rose. "I can see why they're so heavily regulated then. I'm surprised I've never heard that before. Why isn't everyone importing them then?"

Hayashi clicked through several pictures of the eels and random snippets of scientific articles. "The amount you would need to consume to see the effects are astronomical. Early American scientists attempted to distill the active compound, but the sheer price of maintenance for the livestock needed wasn't worth the effort when other enhancements became available."

"And here we have much stricter laws on quirk enhancers."

"The American view on quirk research and augmentation are much different than our own. There you can buy enhancers over the counter." The detective's tone dropped low. Aizawa silently agreed with her that such widespread use was problematic, but that was an issue for American heroes and police, not him.

"Back to the task at hand, records show there's only been one order for the eels in the past month, delivered to this processing warehouse." A picture of one large building appeared on the screen. "A small batch delivery, once a month, to this location, for the past five years." 

Finally they seemed to be getting to the point. "What's the warehouse for?"

"We don't know."

"No one ever questioned the shipments?"

Hayashi shook her head. "Not when the batches were so small and no eel-based product ever made it to market. The numbers seemed too low to matter."

"Unless they were breeding them somehow. Or doing something else with them entirely. Who owns it?"

"A single investment company owns this entire manufacturing area, but only this warehouse has seen any activity. The rest are all empty."

Aizawa finished his coffee and sighed. "That's not suspicious at all."

More pictures flashed across the wall. People entering and exiting the building during different times of day, but the CCTV camera too far away to pick up any details. "Our investigation has shown high levels of activity in the past week, and three days ago, the lab was cleared out." This time, a line of five trucks were parked in front, people scurrying back and forth filling them up. The cargo was indiscernible. 

"But one truck couldn't complete their job because of the accident."

"Yes. And there's been no movement since." 

"I'm sensing that we're getting to the part where I'll be involved."

Detective Hayashi nodded. "Right. With the elevated risk level, our department is stretched thin across the city. We cannot gather enough officers to breach the facility blind. I need you to get inside, scope it out, and report your findings."

"Alone?"

"For the initial breach, yes. We do not believe anyone is left inside. If this is the case, we will enter as well and investigate the building."

Aizawa sighed. "And if it isn't?"

"We will withdraw and use whatever information you discover to plan a bigger assault."

“When do we move?”

“Tonight. We’d like to move as quickly as possible.” Hayashi pushed the computer his way. “I‘ll leave you with this information to look over before the assault.” 

“Understood.”

—————

The actual infiltration of the building was surprisingly easy, maybe even insultingly so. The target building stood four stories tall, with sealed windows and scaffolding that zigzagged up one side. It was separated from the surrounding structures by several feet of old broken road, allowing Hayashi and the other four officers to easily sweep through and clear them in order to monitor the target. 

The whole area showed no activity, so Eraserhead moved in. He climbed up the scaffolding, noting that it seemed far sturdier than it looked. A well maintained building with an abandoned facade that blended in with the other broken down factories in the area. 'That's not suspicious at all.' The window access was easy enough to open; just a quick jimmy of the latch and Eraserhead slipped into an empty hallway. 

The door to his immediate left opened to what looked like an executive office with a massive desk, filing cabinets, and smooth black box on the wall. The entire office was trashed, with storage doors hanging open and chairs knocked to the ground. It was clear that someone emptied it of all useful information in a hurry. 

The area to the left connected the right and left hallways of the second floor and appeared to be some kind of laboratory. A placard on the door read _Coral Testing_ , not that the name gave Eraser any insight into what had been going on here. Glass cylinders covered the tables, all filled with an odd, greyish spider-web like filament. As he walked through the lab, he noticed that the containers were dated, with a single sample a month for the past year. As he grew closer to the end of the room, the dates suddenly jumped from monthly to weekly, and just by the door, multiple daily samples up until three days ago. The newer filaments were glowing a soft gold, but even as he stood there, they were fading to grey. 

"What happened three days ago?"

Exiting the lab, Aizawa came across a medical exam room with several empty tables and a wall of drawers he didn't feel strong enough to investigate. The next room was just as depressing: a cell with only a bed and a toilet. Refusing to contemplate who or what had suffered in this place, he kept moving. 

The area in front of him opened up: the hallway continued directly in front of him, while to the left another hallway led to the other side of the building. Instead of being filled with offices or workstations however, the right wall was completely missing, allowing him to peer all the way down to the first floor. Two massive cylinders rose from the ground to tower over the railing, only connected to the second floor by suspended catwalks. _Coral Extraction_ was stamped onto the wall.

Aizawa continued on through the halls of the second floor, passing empty storage rooms and more offices. No one ever appeared, but there were still signs of recent use: crumpled paper balls left in trash cans, food abandoned on a counter in a break room. Whoever had been working here was gone, and took whatever they were working on with them. 

At the end of the hallway were a set of stairs that spiraled down to the first floor. Another identical hall with more identical doorways. The silence of the building made Aizawa confident that each room was empty and didn’t need checking. He passed doors reading _Eel Storage_ , _Eel Extraction and Distillation_ , _Eel Trial Lab_ , and _Live Animal Storage_. He braved a peek into the last room and was happily surprised to find it empty. 'I'm never eating kabayaki again.'

The hallway opened up into the buildings entryway, which branched off to another hallway across from him and two massive doors reading _Weaver Observation and Testing_ . The windows showed tables, a large desk with a computer, and the two towering cylinders. 'Not too much longer and this place won't be my problem anymore.' The other half of the floor was taken up by a room labeled _Biological Material Testing_ , one large lab filled with a mixture of tables and various equipment that was just as devoid of life as the rest of the place. 

Aizawa was quickly passing another door when the name caught his eye: _Subject Observation_ . Heart sinking, he opened the door. The room appeared identical to a police observation room: a long table for notes, a coffee pot, and a one-way mirror that looked into the next room. It was another cell, but completely stripped bare, no cot or toilet, only a single flat futon lying directly on the floor. The only break from the monotonous grey of the cage was a pair of shoes that sat next to the pallet. _Red shoes so small they could only belong to a child._

Aizawa wasted no more time and called the all clear. 

He left the large center room with the tanks to the police and instead investigated the cell. _Subject Holding_ was stamped on the wall next to the bars. Stepping in gave him no more information as to who had been here. The walls were bare; the futon was bare; the ceiling was bare. The only standout were the shoes. 

Aizawa picked them up and refused to contemplate just how small they were in his hands. Holding them, he could tell the left shoe was very slightly heavier than the other and something glinted oddly from inside it. A very small permanent marker had been shoved as far into the shoe as possible. One side of the marker was sprinkled in grey powder. Cement. Eraser eyed the walls again. "Were you trying to leave a message?"

On a hunch, he flipped over the edge of futon that faced away from the mirrored observation window. The floor beneath was marked up, shaky but legible handwriting covered the floor: _test_ , _food_ , and _sleep_ , with hash marks counting each. Seven tests, eight meals, four sleep cycles; assuming the kid didn't mark down every nap, it was safe to assume they spent four days in this cell. 

Completely moving the futon revealed more writing, each getting more and more illegible as it went:

 _I want my mom_ _  
_ _I hear you_ _  
_ _I want to go home_ _  
_ _Are you alone_ _  
_ _I'm sorry_ _  
_ _The Black_ _  
_ _Kacchan_ _  
_ _Why am I here_  
_Mom_ _  
_ **_They’re lying to_ **— 

Suddenly, Eraserhead was stuck by a wave of fear as the floor shook and a loud, warbling, roar echoed through the building. He stood, and then ran out of the cell as another distorted shriek tore the air. The doors to _Weaver Observation and Testing_ slammed open as the police officers attempted to escape from the room. Eraser ignored them and ran through as the roars were replaced by a terrible screeching sound. 

Detective Hayashi stood in front of the two containment cylinders, her gun drawn but only vaguely aimed towards the one on the right. There was another roar as something inside slammed into the wall, causing the whole thing to sway.

“What happened?” Eraser yelled over the noise. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that her gun was slowly falling away from the possible threat. 

“They want out.” Her voice was all wrong, dazed and breathy, but before he could question her more, the screeching suddenly stopped.

A long crack tore across the containment cell. A mass of shifting black _something_ grabbed at either side of the crack and pulled, widening the hole. Shadows flickered as tendrils of purple-black static formed a head with multiple glowing white eyes that shoved itself out of the crack. The creature roared, filling Aizawa with fear like he’d never experienced in all his years of being a hero. No villain, hostage situation, or dangerous rescue could compare to the sheer _wrongness_ he felt looking at the mass. 

Aizawa had no control over his body and stumbled away from the nightmare contorting itself out of the twisted metal. The roaring changed pitch, becoming something almost plaintive as a tendril reached out towards them. Instinctively, he activated Erasure, wincing as whatever this quirk was fought him. 

Slowly, the shadows began to recede and he could make out a small form from within the tank: a kid. _The kid!_ His capture weapon shot out, wrapping around them and pulled. The static and fear vanished as Eraserhead caught the bundle of cloth. The child, who couldn't be older than ten, was sobbing into his chest, holding onto his capture weapon with blackened arms that were covered in small wounds. 

"Hey, it's okay now. I'm a hero, you're safe." 

They looked up, weepy eyes as green as the hair on their head. "I want to go home."

"I'll get you home, I promise." Aizawa looked over to Hayashi, but she had fallen unconscious at some point while he was drowning in fear. "What's your name kid?" An hallucinogenic quirk maybe, one powerful enough to knock someone out cold and freeze a pro hero; this kid could be great. Or terrible. 

"I just want to go home!" they screamed into his chest with a broken voice. Tears soaked his hero suit as tiny fists clutched at his capture weapon. As if someone would come and tear them away to be thrown back into the cell. 

"Okay, okay. Let's get you home." Aizawa held the kid tight as he one-handedly pulled himself up to stand. The observation room was completely trashed: tables knocked over, what few papers had been left were now scattered on the floor, and the one computer was tipped on its side. Hopefully the data would still be accessible. He decided getting the kid out was a more important objective than finding out what happened.

Outside, the police officers were huddled together near the squad cars, every single one of them looking terrified. Aizawa ignored them all. He opened the nearest car and tried to untangle the kid from his scarves. "Hey, kid, could you look at me please?" They only shook harder, unwilling to loosen their hold. "I know you're scared right now, but I need to go back in and check on the detective." 

"I want to go home."

Aizawa sighed, "I know you do." He carefully pulled his scarves over his head, cast them around the kid, and then deposited the entire bundle on the backseat of the car. The billowing cloth made the child look even more tiny in its folds. "Hold on to this for me okay? That way you know I'll have to come back." They still looked uncertain and Aizawa could stop himself from ruffling their hair. "I won't abandon you here, I promise." He didn't want to leave them, but he still needed to check on Hayashi, find out what happened to trigger the kid, and finally finish this job. 

Eraserhead turned back and walked over to the nearest officer. "What happened?" 

Officer Kimura stepped forward, but the hero didn't stop to listen, and instead continued on back towards the building. Kimura jogged to keep up. "We were investigating the observation room. I was at the computer when the detective started acting strange."

"Strange how?"

"She said she could see a shape in the glass."

They had made it to the building now, which had returned to its unnatural silence."Glass? What glass?"

"I don't know. She just asked 'what do you see in the glass?' and started moving towards the containment area." 

Nothing had changed in the observation room since he had left, still trashed, Hayashi still passed out near the front. He crouched and took her pulse. "And then?"

"There was a control panel with a button that said Begin Extraction Operation. She hit it, and then the screaming started."

Her heartbeat was fast but strong and she was breathing fine. "And you ran."

"We all did. I'd never felt so afraid." Aizawa could empathize, he hadn't ever felt fear like that either, but the police completed the same emotional reaction training as all heroes did. They should have been able to work through the fear with some semblance of a level head. 

"The detective seems to be okay now, but she should get checked out."

Kimura nodded, and then sat down next to his supervisor. "We radioed for an ambulance when we calmed down enough to actually think. I'll stay with the detective, you go check on the kid."

That was fine by him. "Give a call if you think you might be hallucinating."

"Will do. Thank you Eraserhead."

Aizawa exited the room as the rest of the officers started reentering the building. The group scattered, each filing down the hallways to start cataloging the rest of the evidence now that it was completely clear. The hero snagged one of the passing officers. "Did you leave anyone with the kid?"

The officer just looked at him in confusion. "What kid?"

"The kid I left in the car when I went with Officer Kimura."

He just shook his head. "I'm sorry Eraser, there's no kid out there." He hadn't finished his sentence before Aizawa was running past him. Skidding into the still open car door, he could only stare at his capture weapon sitting in a neat pile on the back seat. No green-haired kid to be found anywhere. 

————

Aizawa swore he'd somehow find the kid and deliver them home like he'd promised. But without a name, age, or quirk title, they couldn't be found. Hell, he wasn't even sure how long the kid had been missing in order to check missing persons. With nothing to work from, Naruhata was calling him home. He tried to keep looking, but between the vigilantes, instant villains, and starting a whole new carrier as a schoolteacher, the mystery kid slowly slipped from his mind. 

Until several years later, when sitting in another boring U.A. Entrance Exam, the camera focused on a green-eyed, green-haired teen. Swirling static overtook his form and then _something_ slammed a three pointer into the ground, destroying it instantly. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you've never played Prey or heard a Nightmare, Warning, Loud Noises: https://youtu.be/lSX8j8nLCus


End file.
